VillaJ100 Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Still think if Laursen never got bust permanently wed have got 4th that season. Oh well with his replacement Clark we can hope to overachieve and finish 4th in the championship! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Ohhhh loved both. Mellberg's levels were very good first few season he was with us ,probably around the level Laursen was for those glorious 18 months but Martin had the knack of grabbing crucial goals which always improves a CB's status while Mellberg hardly ever scored. Laursen fitted the captain marvel type much better than Mellberg who was never a huge vocal presence. Overall Mellberg probably for the longevity and his fitness record was always superb, at most missed 5 games in a season through injury. Think I'd have both of them now, Laursen on one leg rather than the jokers we have at the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 11 hours ago, lapal_fan said: It's crazy to think Milan fans have "who was the worst player to play for Milan?" and Laursen's name comes up quite often. He was an absolute behemoth at Villa, especially for that season and half when he was injury free. Not many strikers got the better of him. I don't think I've ever seen a guy, 6ft+ jump as high. I don't think he ever didn't win a header. He was also quite quick. He certainly would never have came here had it not been for his injury problems. Mellberg, quick, brave, hard-working and a brilliant professional (what we'd give for one of those right now). He played in some of our poorest teams and still looked great. He led by immaculate example, never fell out with anybody and played at right back when really he should have been in the middle with Laursen. He was also rock solid. I can't choose. I love them both too much. I'd love to know what our worst defeat was when both of these two players were in the same team. How often did he actually play for Meelan out of interest, I remember they loaned him to Verona or Parma one of the seasons he was there and he was of course back up generally to legends like Nesta, Jaap Stam and Costacurta. Having watched Milan last few seasons they have been a total joke in Seria A at the back. I find it hard to believe he was worse for them than pub defenders like Zapata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Quote I'd love to know what our worst defeat was when both of these two players were in the same team. Any game we played against Man. United in that period. Plus ca change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelVilla Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Laursen was the better player but both were good for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCU Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Both incredible but Martin Laursen for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) Those were the days... Mellberg, great for Villa then went to Juventus. Laursen, bought from Milan. Current villa players bought from nowhere, do fuckall for 4 years, go nowhere. P.s. I say Laursen. Edited April 14, 2016 by Genie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post villarule123 Posted April 14, 2016 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted April 14, 2016 Just thinking about either of the 2 makes me sad I'd get rid of the entire current team if we could get just 1 of those 2 back. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Lescott and Richards are not fit to clean either of their boots that's for damn sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 what I love about Mellberg was he was tough in the tackle but most importantly he was clean and rarely conceded that many fouls. One season he played all 38 league games and finally got a yellow card in last minute of last day of season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 This thread is genuinely upsetting me. The commitment, passion and love these guys had for the club. I **** despise some of the current team, no commitment, no passion, no love. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Mellberg, the stoic gentleman. Laursen, the elegant menace. I love both of them, and it warms the heart thinking about better days. I think Martin was slightly better. Mellberg the better athlete, Laursen the better artist, and the more ebullient character. An embarrassment of riches in Villa terms. Although at their individual peak, I'd like to think they could have started for almost any club in the world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Crikey, Zat Knight was a big boy, wasn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted April 15, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted April 15, 2016 I can't decide. I think Laursen was the better player. As in more talented. But Mellberg was probably better for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted April 15, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted April 15, 2016 Whenever I find myself doing my personal Aston Villa XI (since being a supporter), I always try and include both Martin and Olof - alongside God, obviously. Whether that involves Olof playing right back or playing a back three, I can't bring myself to leave either out. As for the vote, I feel the answer is probably Martin but there's no chance I'm voting against Olof so I shall abstain! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexbelowsound Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 (edited) Tbh, 50/50 as it is currently probably seems fair. Edited April 15, 2016 by sexbelowsound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 not just these lads but Southgate, Ehiogu, God, Teale we have been graced with very good centre halfs in the past and then you see what we have now is horrifying 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Zatman said: not just these lads but Southgate, Ehiogu, God, Teale we have been graced with very good centre halfs in the past and then you see what we have now is horrifying I would include the pair that won the league and european cup up there. Alan Evans in particular having played nearly 400 games for Villa is a villa legend so I'd probably pick him ahead of Mellberg and Laursen too. Edited April 15, 2016 by PaulC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 17 hours ago, VillaChris said: How often did he actually play for Meelan out of interest, I remember they loaned him to Verona or Parma one of the seasons he was there and he was of course back up generally to legends like Nesta, Jaap Stam and Costacurta. Not quite. Verona bought him (I'd strongly recommend Tim Parks' book A Season With Verona - a great read, a diary of Laursen's final season with them, when the likes of Frey, Mutu, Gilardino, Oddo, Camoranesi etc were all first coming through there) from Denmark, Parma bought a share in him, he was then loaned to Milan who bought him for €11m or so. They bought Nesta the following summer, he and Maldini were the usual pair and when they bought Stam that prompted him to leave for us. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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